Portal:West Virginia

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The West Virginia Portal

Panorama northwest, northeast and east from a ridge along West Virginia Route 42 between Elk Garden and Sulphur City in Mineral County, West Virginia (2016)

West Virginia is a landlocked state in the Southern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. It is bordered by Pennsylvania and Maryland to the northeast, Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, and Ohio to the northwest. West Virginia is the 10th-smallest state by area and ranks as the 12th-least populous state, with a population of 1,793,716 residents. The capital and most populous city is Charleston with a population of 49,055.

West Virginia was admitted to the Union on June 20, 1863, and was a key border state during the American Civil War. It was the only state to form by separating from a Confederate state, one of two states (along with Nevada) admitted to the Union during the Civil War, and the third state to separate from another state, after Kentucky and Maine separated from Virginia and Massachusetts in 1792 and 1820, respectively. Some of its residents held slaves, but most were yeoman farmers, and the delegates provided for the gradual abolition of slavery in the new state constitution. The state legislature abolished slavery in the state, and at the same time ratified the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery nationally on February 3, 1865.

West Virginia's northern panhandle extends adjacent to Pennsylvania and Ohio to form a tristate area, with Wheeling, Weirton, and Morgantown just across the border from the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. Huntington in the southwest is close to Ohio and Kentucky, while Martinsburg and Harpers Ferry in the eastern panhandle region are considered part of the Washington metropolitan area, between Maryland and Virginia. West Virginia is often included in several U.S. geographical regions, including the Mid-Atlantic, the Upland South, and the Southeastern United States. It is the only state entirely within the area served by the Appalachian Regional Commission; the area is commonly defined as "Appalachia". (Full article...)

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The Fostoria Glass Company was a manufacturer of pressed, blown and hand-molded glassware and tableware. It began operations in Fostoria, Ohio, on December 15, 1887, on land donated by the townspeople. The new company was formed by men from West Virginia who were experienced in the glassmaking business. They started their company in northwest Ohio to take advantage of newly discovered natural gas that was an ideal fuel for glassmaking. Numerous other businesses were also started in the area, and collectively they depleted the natural gas supply. Fuel shortages caused the company to move to Moundsville, West Virginia, in 1891.

After the move to Moundsville, the company achieved a national reputation. Fostoria was considered one of the top producers of elegant glass. It had over 1,000 patterns, including one (American) that was produced for over 75 years. Showrooms were located in New York, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, and other large cities. The company advertised heavily, and one of its successes was sales through bridal registries. Fostoria products were made for several U.S. presidents. The company employed 1,000 people at its peak in 1950. (Full article...)

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John William Davis (April 13, 1873 – March 24, 1955) was an American politician, diplomat and lawyer. He served under President Woodrow Wilson as the Solicitor General of the United States and the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom. He was the Democratic nominee for president in 1924, losing to Republican incumbent Calvin Coolidge.

Davis was born and raised in West Virginia, where his father, John James Davis, had been a delegate to the Wheeling Convention and served in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1870s. Davis joined his father's legal practice and adopted many of his father's political views, including opposition to anti-lynching legislation and support for states' rights. Davis served in the U.S. House from 1911 to 1913, helping to write the Clayton Antitrust Act. He held the position of solicitor general in the Justice Department from 1913 to 1918, during which time he successfully argued for the unconstitutionality of the grandfather clause in Oklahoma's constitution, which had a discriminatory effect against African-American voters, in Guinn v. United States. (Full article...)

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The following are images from various West Virginia-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Francis H. Pierpont, a leader during the Second Wheeling Convention (from West Virginia)
Image 2Bluefield, a major center for coal mining, in 2014 (from West Virginia)
Image 3A slave woman tending to a white baby in West Virginia, 1865 (from West Virginia)
Image 4Map of Virginia dated June 13, 1861, featuring the percentage of slave population within each county at the 1860 census and the proposed state of Kanawha (from West Virginia)
Image 5West Virginia is situated in the Appalachian Mountains, bounded by Allegheny Mountains, Ohio and Big Sandy rivers, and the Cumberland Mountains. (from West Virginia)
Image 6Saturday afternoon street scene, Welch, McDowell County, 1946 (from West Virginia)
Image 7The Linsly Institute building in Wheeling, West Virginia, which served as the state's first capitol building from statehood in 1863 until March 28, 1870, when the capitol was transferred to Charleston, West Virginia (from History of West Virginia)
Image 81751 Fry-Jefferson map showing early ferries and established colonial borders before the French And Indian War (from History of West Virginia)
Image 9Thomas Lee, the first manager of the Ohio Company of Virginia (from West Virginia)
Image 10Historical coat of arms of West Virginia (illustrated, 1876) (from West Virginia)
Image 11The West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston is home to the West Virginia Legislature. (from West Virginia)
Image 12Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, changed hands a dozen times during the American Civil War. (from History of West Virginia)
Image 13West Virginia population density map (from West Virginia)
Image 14Bituminous coal seam in southwestern West Virginia (from West Virginia)
Image 15Turnout by county in the October 24, 1861, West Virginia statehood vote (from History of West Virginia)
Image 161715 Nicolas de Fer map showing the Native American areas known as Tionontatacaga and Calicuas (from History of West Virginia)
Image 17Counties (in blue) approving Virginia's secession from the U.S. (from History of West Virginia)
Image 18Seneca Rocks, Pendleton County (from West Virginia)
Image 19Spruce Knob is the highest point in West Virginia and the Allegheny Mountains. (from West Virginia)
Image 20Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight, a statue on the grounds of the West Virginia State Capitol (from West Virginia)
Image 21John S. Carlile, a leader during the First Wheeling Convention (from History of West Virginia)
Image 22From left, Senator Joe Manchin, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, and Representative David McKinley (2017) (from West Virginia)
Image 23Escaped slave broadside, Hampshire County, West Virginia, 1845 (from West Virginia)
Image 24Harpers Ferry alternated between Confederate and Union rule eight times during the American Civil War, and was finally annexed by West Virginia. (from West Virginia)
Image 25A toll plaza on the West Virginia Turnpike (from West Virginia)
Image 26A view of the New River in West Virginia, the world's third-oldest river geologically (from History of West Virginia)
Image 27Shaded relief map of the Cumberland Plateau and Ridge-and-valley Appalachians (from West Virginia)
Image 28The iconic New River Gorge Bridge near Fayetteville (from West Virginia)
Image 29Thomas Lee, the first manager of the Ohio Company of Virginia (from History of West Virginia)
Image 30Votes by county in the October 1861 statehood vote (from West Virginia)
Image 31Packed circles diagram showing estimates of the ethnic origins of people in West Virginia in 2021. (from West Virginia)
Image 32State of Westylvania proposed to the U.S. Congress (from West Virginia)

Racial plurality in West Virginia by county, per the 2020 U.S. census

Legend

Non-Hispanic White

70–80%

80–90%

90%+

(from West Virginia)

Image 34Child labor in the coal mines of West Virginia, 1908 (from West Virginia)
Image 35The Veterans Memorial Bridge carries US 22 from Weirton WV into Ohio. (from West Virginia)
Image 36West Virginia Independence Hall, site of the Wheeling Convention (from History of West Virginia)
Image 37Köppen climate types of West Virginia, using 1991-2020 climate normals (from West Virginia)

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... that the China Folk House Retreat dismantled a Chinese folk house and rebuilt it in West Virginia?
... that the California Golden Bears men's basketball team won the 1959 NCAA University Division Basketball Championship Game by a single point over West Virginia?
... that the Vulcan Bridge, a bridge in Vulcan, West Virginia, was constructed after the mayor requested financial aid from the Soviet Union?
... that in 1993, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld West Virginia's largest punitive damages award in history, awarding $10 million – 526 times larger than the compensatory damages?
... that Babydog is "a fixture in West Virginia politics"?
... that the general manager of a West Virginia TV station called changing its network affiliation "the hardest decision I've ever had to make"?

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